I just put my FD on the road again. I had it sitting for a few years while I was away...

While driving around I noticed how dim the lights seemed (I have gotten used to a high SUV with super bright Xenons).

Is there anything new in replacement headlamps that are much brighter than stock?

 

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...bulbs-1024907/

or full HID conversion from Sake Bomb Garage.

 

What's your budget? There are lots of options, best is get a set of clear lens headlight and retrofit whatever OEM projector you like in there, will run you between $4-500.

 

Sylvania Silver Star bulbs perform well too. The cheapest option as well.

 

What kind of things did you do to prepare it for storage? Is there anything you wish you did? What did you do before you drove it?

 

This is what I did...

With no previous experience, I just finished doing a HID retrofit for my 93 RX-7. I followed the details from thread from turboIIrotary and was able to do it myself.

*First, I bought the clear ebay lights for about $100.00 (type "RX7 JDM CRYSTAL CLEAR" in ebay or google search for other sellers).

*Next I bought the HID kit from the retrofitsource.com for $305.00
Here are the details:
1 x Bi-xenon Morimoto Mini Stage III Kit (H1) (MiniH1III)
Projectors LHD (North American Standard)
Halos No Thanks
Ballasts Morimoto 3Five (35w)
Bulbs H1: Morimoto 3Five 4300K
Shrouds E55-R
Re-sealing Glue Yes please
Wire Harness Relay: H4/9003

*Third, I made the cuts to the new headlight housing turboIIrotary goes into detail about in his post (https://www.rx7club.com/interior-ext...trofit-927786/). I also followed some of the referenced installation procedures/pics from various installations documented on the retrofitsource.com website.

After I wired and installed everything, I simply adjusted the lights to get them aimed properly. I hope this inspires you as it took me awhile to get the ***** to do it alone.

 

^ Good info here!

 

Thanks, I read a post just now that said Snake Bomb was out of the business. Maybe it was an old post? I was in the middle of searching when I came across this - my own thread. I'll keep looking.

 

I don't really have a budget - so to speak. If a set is good, legal, and not blinding to oncoming traffic, that is what I want. The alternative of continuing to use dull lighting is not appealing.

Initially , I was hoping someone would say, "Within the last 5 years, lighting technology has improved and the OEM lens/bulb can be swapped for this..."

Instant better lighting! But I think the chances of that are probably slim.

 

I think the last time I swapped out, I went for Silver Stars... I will check my bulbs to see what is in there now.

 

Thats false.... they have a Group Buy for Set #4 on their kit right now...

https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-pr...1004865/page1/

 

Some people here would make a big deal of this, but...

I turned the key off... disconnect the battery... five years or so later ... connect the battery... boost with a jump box... I turned the key on.

I have had a number of cars over my 53 years and I have never really babied any of them. And although it has been started a few times and actually driven once or twice for a few miles, that is all I did. When I got home last time, I was surprised to find mold growing on the seats, the shifter, steering wheel, and the PB handle. It took about an hour to clean the interior (hope it is not too damaged) air up the tires with a small cig lighter pump, and get enough dust off the windows to see.

It cranked right over and started instantly on a jump box, belching a fog of smoke for the first minute or two before it settled down. Tomorrow, I will clean the exterior, change the oil, put a few gallons of fresh Sonoco hi octane in and drive it about an hour or two to run out the old 4 gallons of gas.

Then I have to start repairing the problems I had when it was parked:

1. Intermittent 4W ABS light
2. bad oil pressure sender - I hate having to replace these so frequently
3. tachometer that works when it wants to
4. EGR warnings
5. exhaust leak that keeps the cabin smoky when the windows are up and the roof is open

I always forget how easy the engine spins and how much power it produces even though I have the turbo electronics turned "off". Once I have put more miles on it, I will turn the turbos back on again and see what it does.

What do I wish I had done?

1. I wish I could seal the car better and or find a better way to keep mold from growing. Last time I had to leave, the driver side window switch went bad right before my trip and so the windows remained down while parked for the last stint.
2. I guess it would be nice if I had a quick way to prep it for long storage, but I seldom know when this is going to happen. I may be driving one day, and then in another state within a few days - sometimes for unspecified lengths of time. I hope I have not shortened the life too much, but if so, then I will deal with that when I have to.

 

This looks good, the pattern looks to be legal with no light scattering issue. Is this true?

 

You won't be blinding anyone if you use OEM projector and retrofit them correctly.

Couple example of what I did on my daily driver with TSX projector.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps529f9ea3.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps0fbc21f5.jpg

I will be doing the same thing TainoIndian did, but not with TRS kit, I'll be using Lexus RX350 Bi-Xenon projector and Denso ballast.

If you want instant solution then SBG kit is probably your best bet, but there are better projector out there compare to the one they used IMO.

 

I can give you more info on our kit but basically this is the modernized lighting you've been looking for. It's on par with the newest luxury cars, and uses the same basic components (D2S bulb/mechanical solenoid for high beams/quick start electronic ballasts/etc) in an FD specific housing. It's a completely plug and play setup with only one small modification to the headlight bucket needed, other than that it's completely plug and play and can be removed to go back to OEM at any time.

We pioneered the FD bi-xenon headlight retrofits years ago and have sold well over 250 sets at this point with not a single negative response from a customer. Not to toot our own horn but we've yet to see another vendor come up with a better performing lighting solution, hands down. Typically we just sell them during "group buys" as we have yet to be able to physically build more than we have demand for (which is why we almost never have them "in stock" on our website unfortunately). We offer these kits in LHD or RHD varients.

We offer a 35w setup (using an OEM Philips bulb) or a 50w setup (using an aftermarket bulb). The philips bulbs can go well beyond 75,000 miles. Once installed the system is typically bulletproof and draws less power than the stock halogen setup.

-Heath

 

^ This

The H1 lighting is night and day difference for me and I am happy with the results. It Looks oem and I have yet to have someone flash me on the highway. Either way, you will be pleased if you decide to go with the instructions posted by turboIIrotary or buy a kit from Sakebomb. If you decide to go the turboIIrotary way, I can help fill in some gaps in the instructions to make things go smoother for you.

 

So, you got away with essentially a $400 bill DIY?

 

^ That's the benefit of DIY, you can also color/shield mod the projector before installing it, lots of options.